This article is part of our Golf Draft Kit series.
This year's PGA Tour has a notable rookie class. Here's a rundown on the first-year tour players, ranked by 2019-20 projected earnings.
Viktor Hovland
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $2,500,000
Hovland doesn't need much introduction after a T12 at the U.S. Open in June preceded four consecutive finishes of T16 or better to end the regular season, culminating with a solo-fourth at the Wyndham Championship. The Oklahoma State product failed to record a win like his fellow Class of '19 compadres, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa, but expect Hovland to land in the winner's circle soon enough. He gained at least 8.4 strokes from tee to green throughout his last three starts on the PGA Tour before securing his card with results of T11-T2 at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
Scottie Scheffler
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $1,750,000
Prior to nabbing a victory at the first leg of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in mid-August, Scheffler had already secured his PGA Tour card for the upcoming season by winning the Evans Scholars Invitational as the cherry on top of a stretch on the KFT that included results of 2-5-T7-2-Win beginning with late March's Savannah Golf Championship. He'll enjoy rookie status on the PGA Tour throughout the 2019-20 campaign, but the former Longhorn standout already has major tournament experience, having teed it up at three U.S. Opens as he earned Low Amateur honors at the 2017 edition. Scheffler missed the cut at the 2019 U.S. Open, but he notched a top-20 finish at the
This year's PGA Tour has a notable rookie class. Here's a rundown on the first-year tour players, ranked by 2019-20 projected earnings.
Viktor Hovland
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $2,500,000
Hovland doesn't need much introduction after a T12 at the U.S. Open in June preceded four consecutive finishes of T16 or better to end the regular season, culminating with a solo-fourth at the Wyndham Championship. The Oklahoma State product failed to record a win like his fellow Class of '19 compadres, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa, but expect Hovland to land in the winner's circle soon enough. He gained at least 8.4 strokes from tee to green throughout his last three starts on the PGA Tour before securing his card with results of T11-T2 at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
Scottie Scheffler
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $1,750,000
Prior to nabbing a victory at the first leg of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in mid-August, Scheffler had already secured his PGA Tour card for the upcoming season by winning the Evans Scholars Invitational as the cherry on top of a stretch on the KFT that included results of 2-5-T7-2-Win beginning with late March's Savannah Golf Championship. He'll enjoy rookie status on the PGA Tour throughout the 2019-20 campaign, but the former Longhorn standout already has major tournament experience, having teed it up at three U.S. Opens as he earned Low Amateur honors at the 2017 edition. Scheffler missed the cut at the 2019 U.S. Open, but he notched a top-20 finish at the Valero Texas Open and collected nearly $150k despite making only four starts at the PGA Tour level. On the KFT, he ranked fifth in GIR percentage, 10th in putting average and led his peers in birdie average.
Doug Ghim
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $1,100,000
Ghim has played 13 events on the PGA Tour, but he's a true rookie this season. He was a rookie on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018-19 and played well enough to get the call to the big leagues after just one season. Ghim looks to have some potential as he fared pretty well in those 13 starts, with four top-25s and earnings more than $350k. Throw in some experience from the Korn Ferry Tour and Ghim just might be in the running for ROY by the end of this season.
Kristoffer Ventura
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $1,100,000
Ventura broke 70 in just two of eight rounds at the PGA Tour level throughout the 2018-19 season, but he enjoyed a successful Korn Ferry Tour campaign that included wins at the Utah Championship and Pinnacle Bank Championshp to accompany a pair of third-place finishes at the BMW Charity Pro-Am and WinCo Foods Portland Open as well. Despite appearing in just nine events, Ventura managed to rank fourth in the KFT's Regular Season Points List as he positioned himself comfortably inside of the OWGR's top-200 by mid-August. Ventura is linked to rising star Viktor Hovland as the Norwegian duo each enjoyed successful collegiate careers as Oklahoma State Cowboys before turning professional.
Tom Lewis
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $1,075,000
Ranked 61st or better in both the European Tour's Race to Dubai and the Official World Golf Ranking, Lewis embarked on a quest to secure a PGA Tour card for the first time in his career by competing in the Korn Ferry Tour's playoff finale. He not only accomplished this feat, but did so in dominant fashion by winning the Korn Ferry Tour Championship by a demanding five-stroke margin. Lewis' summer was also highlighted by a T11 at the Open Championship, his best finish in six total major appearances. The Englishman is a two-time winner on the Euro Tour and could begin to make more noise stateside, though a potentially inconsistent schedule may await if he continues to spend significant time playing events overseas.
Harry Higgs
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $950,000
Slated to become a PGA Tour rookie at 27 years old, Higgs endured a hefty schedule on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 as he qualified for the weekend in an impressive 17 of 21 starts. He finished fifth on the Regular Season Points List thanks in large part to a win at the Price Cutter Charity Championship, but he also racked up five top-10s and 12 top-25s. Higgs, who rose to 12th in ball striking, ranked third in both putting and birdie average on the KFT. He led the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in earnings throughout the 2018 campaign, commencing a success story that has resulted in Higgs vaulting as high as 146th in the OWGR.
Matthew NeSmith
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $725,000
A pair of 63s to open the Ellie Mae Classic in early August foreshadowed what was to come for NeSmith during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, as he went on to fire a seven-under 64 during the final round of the Albertsons Boise Open and win the event by one stroke while locking up a PGA Tour card for the first time. NeSmith has made five career starts at the PGA Tour level, though he's missed the cut in each attempt and was unable to break 70 in all 10 rounds. He led the entire KFT in GIR percentage throughout the 2019 season, however, and NeSmith also ranked 11th in total driving.
Chris Baker
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $715,000
Baker, who essentially earned his PGA Tour card for the 2019-20 season by tying for fourth at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, amassed seven top-10s in 25 starts while ranking third in driving accuracy, seventh in ball striking and 16th in GIR percentage. He'll need to make major improvements with the flat stick to compete at the next level, but his short game is far from a total disaster as he also ranked second in scrambling on the Korn Ferry Tour. Baker does lack experience on the PGA Tour with just one career showing, missing the cut at the 2016 Honda Classic.
Bo Hoag
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $650,000
Hoag posted just a single top-10 finish despite making 20 cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, but he made it count as the 31-year-old strolled to scores of 66-68-63-65 while surging to victory at the regular season finale. A late win at the WinCo Foods Portland Open not only earned Hoag full status on the PGA Tour for the first time ever, but he also received a congratulatory call from fellow Columbus, Ohio native Jack Nicklaus. Hoag's support system includes arguably the greatest golfer of all time, so there won't be a shortage of proper advice available throughout his upcoming rookie campaign. This past season on the KFT, Hoag ranked second in GIR percentage and 14th in ball striking, but fell to 129th in putts per round.
Ben Taylor
2019-20 Projected Earnings: $300,000
Taylor's T2 during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship may have been an anomaly as he otherwise missed the cut in four of his last five starts to end the season, but four consecutive sub-70 scores in Columbus, OH were good enough to earn the Englishman a PGA Tour card as he'll now become a rookie at the next level. Taylor, who played his college golf stateside at LSU, ranked outside of the top-100 in ball striking on the KFT in 2019.
This article appears in RotoWire's 2019-20 Fantasy Golf Draft Kit.
